The purpose of the present study is to investigate the function of heroin addiction as a family learned method of coping with the emotional stress associated with death, separation and loss. Primary focus is on the incidence of death and loss within addict family life histories with emphasis on determining the addict's particular period of child development at the time of loss. In addition to loss caused by physical death, marital separation and divorce, losses incurred through additional major life changes will be investigated. Beyond quantitative assessment this study also seeks to determine the nature of the family's qualitative responses and behavioral transactions surrounding these loss experiences. A secondary objective is to determine the degree to which addicts perceive their families as having a commonly shared religion or belief system, e.g., a "philosophy of life". This is based on the view that the lack of a philosophical belief system creates a spiritual void which is temporarily filled by the religious ritualism of drugs. A sample of 40 subjects (20 males and 20 females) is being drawn from each of the three populations to be studied (addicts, psychiatric outpatients, community college students). In addition there is a subset of 20 parents from each group. Thus, there will be a total of 120 index subjects in the major population and 60 subjects in the subset (N equals 180). Subjects are being selected from similar socio-economic backgrounds with groups comparable with respect to age, sex and education. Instruments selected for measurement include a structured interview designed to obtain the number of losses, corresponding stage of development and qualitative family responses and a series of scales and questionnaires.